Mission Mission

Well, this had to happen sometime. If San Francisco’s going to have its own substitute for Jager, it’s only fair that we have our own kind of jagerbombs. Local chill bar Evelyn Lee is filling this market gap with the appropriately named Bottom of the Bay. A healthy shot of Fernet is briefly suspended above partial pint of Drake’s Imperial Stout before being plunged into the depths of the creamy, sudsy brew. The result is somewhere between amazing and not-half-bad, with the wintery spices in the Fernet mixing nicely with the chocolate in the beer. I don’t think I’ve ever had a jagerbomb, so I can’t make a direct comparison, but this definitely tastes several times better than the Irish Car variety. Plus it doesn’t curdle so no chugging is required.

Perfect for a rainy night this holiday season when everyone else has gone out of town, and you’re getting shitfaced by yourself because you’re an adult and you can do what you want.

Read on for the startling conclusion.

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Are you looking for the great taste of the Bay Area’s best beers bottled right at the source, but without the hassle of driving all over town to brewpubs and breweries? (Yes.) Well don’t fret, because Bi-Rite is stocking growlers from two of our favorite local brewers, Magnolia and Linden St.

For those who are wondering, a growler is basically a big bottle with a little stopper on top, so you can pour in beer from the tap and keep it fresh for a few days until you get around to drinking it. They’re really handy when you make it out to far-flung breweries in Northern California, especially when they’re serving beers on tap that aren’t available in bottles.

At Bi-Rite, they’ve got Magnolia’s signature Blue Bell Bitter, as well as the light but hearty Kalifornia Kolsch. I opted for the Linden St. Burning Oak Black Lager, which was warm and chocolatey without being heavy, like a slightly sweeter and richer Death & Taxes. There’s a nominal deposit of $1.50, recoverable when you return the bottle. I’m hoping they’ll just roll that over for my next purchase.

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When people who work at music venues are asked what they do for a living, they should respond “I act really shitty toward children, generally.”

Attention fans of this notoriously poorly distributed Japanese Stout dark lager : you can consistently find it at Ken Ken Ramen, the semi-new ramen joint on 18th and Capp. Unlike most locally produced dark beers, Asahi Black is smooth and easy to drink, like a crisp, less creamy Guinness. Enjoy it at the bar with some edamame, or better yet, the karage (Japanese fried chicken), which is outstanding, especially at $4.50 a serving. Kanpai!

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North Coast Brewing Company is better known for its stouts, Old Rasputin and Old No. 38, but my favorite beer of theirs is Red Seal, their understated and perfectly balanced medium ale. Classified as an amber or red ale, it’s got the bright hops of a typical CA pale, with the malts and body to balance it out.

For those who want to try a different take on this CA classic, Valencia’s new beer-nerd bar Abbott’s Cellar is offering it on one of their two cask setups. Cask-conditioned ale is unfiltered and only slightly carbonated, served from the container that it is put into after primary fermentation, with no additives after the initial process (except perhaps some additional hops.)

In this case, the cask-conditioning results in a much tamer, less hoppy taste and helps bring out the easy-to-miss caramel malt flavors of the beer, as well as imparting some oak.

The beers at Abbot’s Cellar are constantly changing and really fun and challenging for people who like that sort of thing. Cheers to another great addition to the list.

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Valencia’s West of Pecos, the Tex-Mex restaurant from the people behind seafood stalwart Woodhouse Fish Co., has been firing on all cylinders. Hiding behind the painted cow skulls and dried chiles hanging from the ceiling are some great hearty dishes (I’m partial to the ribs.) The happy hour dollar tacos (pork, duck, and veggie) from 5-6:30 really put it over the top.

As for the drink menu, the selections have been pared down to the best of the best and at this point it’s hard to go wrong. Although the ladies seem to gravitate toward the beautiful and tasty Prickly Pecos Marg, I spend most of my time with the Rodeo Ghost, a bitter, smoky mezcal cocktail that’s surprisingly drinkable, which unfortunately often leads me to have three in a row.  A modified negroni, the drink uses amaro and bitters to cut through the overbearing flavor of the mezcal. And it just looks sharp, right?

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Not sure if Girls ex-frontman has forgotten about us already, but we still give him a lot of credit for making the best music to come out of San Francisco in years, as well as generally keeping it real when it comes to SF. Any fears that breaking up the band would knock him off the course he’s been pursuing over the last 2.5 albums were unfounded, as this morning he released the intro and first track of his new album, out in January. In classic Owens style, he chronicles a cross-country tour to New York City, and even gets a little sexy at the end, with the following great lyric: “Hair on my head / tongue in my mouth / I’ve got it all figured out. / Open up your heart tonight, New York City. / Tongue in my ear / hair in my mouth / I want you to figure me out. / Open up your arms tonight…”

Love that guy.

Listen at Owens’ website (via Pitchfork.)

Drink of the week: travel edition continues with a dispatch from Buenos Aires, the only place I know of that likes Fernet Branca anywhere near as much as we do. (My relatives from Italy, Fernet’s home country, don’t go near the stuff.)  Here in BA, it’s mainly mixed with Coke and consumed in the hours between dinner and sunrise. After a few tries, though, I’ve convinced bartenders to pour me a shot. “Sin coca?” “Si, sin Coca.” “Sin hielo?!?” “Si, sin hielo.”

I’m half convinced it tastes different, and better, here in Argentina. It’s smoother, slightly less mouthwashy, and it still dries your mouth out, but not quite so violently. It’s produced domestically here, so it’s certainly possible. But maybe I’m just imagining things. One thing is exactly the same as in S.F. though – out of the people I’ve spoken to, no one can explain why they drink it.

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Since American Tripps has been on walkabout over the last couple weeks, and I’m leaving the country tomorrow, it’s time for Drink of the Week: Travel Edition. While Tripps was in Portland, word came back of the Sore Loser, from bartending celebrity Jeffrey Morganthaler. (I’ve been meaning to make Morganthaler’s tequila and sherry egg nog for years now – hopefully this year I’ll finally get it done.)

The Sore Loser is bourbon, peach liqueur, sherry, pernod and bitters.

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Have you guys noticed that Sycamore cycles more great beers through their handful of taps than most bars with multiple times capacity? Two new brews just came online, Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale and Ballast Point Indra Kunindra Stout. I initially read the Dogfish as “India” Brown Ale, thinking it was going to be some funky hopped brown. In fact, it was a good but pretty middle of the road brown ale.

The stout, on the other hand, is kind of a doozy. Starts out like a bottle of Yoohoo, but the richness quickly fades into a weird bright coconut curry and ends with spice and black pepper. Not as much of a gutbuster as your ordinary craft stout, which is a good thing.

Here’s to Sycamore for its clearly evident hatred of boring beer. And good job picking another winner.

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